Sheriff's office adopts policy for social media

Barrow County

Posted: Sunday, July 24, 2011

By Merritt Melancon

The Barrow County Sheriff's Office has adopted a new social networking policy in response to several embarrassing incidents this summer in which deputies posted politically charged or racist comments on their Facebook pages.

The policy, which was adopted earlier this month, prohibits Barrow County Sheriff's Office employees from posting where they work online -- whether on Facebook, law enforcement networking sites or comment sections of local news websites.

"We want them to watch what they say," said Sheriff Jud Smith. "We're not infringing on their rights, but we want them to understand that if someone knows they're a law enforcement officer, and they make a comment about a certain race, nationality or someone's beliefs, then it can be scrutinized."

Deputies' use of Facebook came under scrutiny in May when longtime Capt. Louis Rusgrove resigned after a whistleblower showed Smith his Facebook page.

"They now predict $6.00 gas by summer. O.K. Democrats, Blacks or African Americans, you slimy liberals where is your outrage towards your towel headed leader," Rusgrove posted late April 20. "You voted this camel jockey into office and have yet to hold him accountable for anything. I guess (you're) too busy helping the baby killers, gays and pot smokers."

Rusgrove identified himself as Barrow County sheriff's deputy several times on his Facebook page.

Another Barrow County officer, Sgt. David Aderhold, was visited by the U.S. Secret Service a few months ago after he made remarks criticizing President Obama on Facebook, but Aderhold never identified himself as a deputy and was not disciplined.

The line between acceptable and unacceptable online behavior was confusing for employees, so Smith wanted to spell out what is expected in a single policy.

"There were so many questions from people asking, 'What can we do? What can't we do?' " Smith said.

"Most of it's common sense," he said. "We just want them to be aware of how they are behaving and what they are saying on the media, because it's not private. They may have their settings set to private, but somebody can still catch it and complain."

The new policy prohibits people who work at the sheriff's office from identifying themselves as employees either through statements or with photos in uniforms or with sheriff's office equipment. It also bars employees from posting sexual content or any statements or photos that could reflect poorly on the sheriff's office.

Employees are responsible for removing any identifying, inflammatory or illicit information that friends or members of the public post on their Facebook pages.

New employees must disclose all social networking websites they post to at the time of their employment for "cybervetting."

The Jackson County Sheriff's Office adopted a near identical policy in June shortly after neighboring Barrow County began dealing with the issue.

But other local agencies haven't followed suit.

Athens-Clarke police cover online behavior under the same set of policies that define conduct unbecoming an officer, said Assistant Chief Alan Brown.

The Oconee County Sheriff's Office hasn't addressed online behavior with a dedicated personnel policy, according to Chief Deputy Lee Weems.

"We don't have a formal policy dictating specific do's and don'ts," Weems said. "I did previously send out a cautionary e-mail to all sheriff's office employees cautioning them that things they post on social media sites could become a workplace issue if they are patently unprofessional or jeopardized a case."

Oconee County doesn't bar deputies from identifying themselves as sheriff's office employees but supervisors are up-front about the responsibilities that identification entails.

"If they choose to identify themselves as a sheriff's employee, it puts everything they post under a microscope, and plus it exposes their family members and friends to that scrutiny," Weems said.